HEPHAESTION TOMB AND CONTRADICTIONS
By Prof. L. Kaliambos (Kaliambos-Natural Philosophy) October 11, 2015 During a conference in Thessaloniki, Greece, ( Sept 30, 2015), Katerina Peristeri, the archaeologist in charge of the excavation of the Amphipolis tomb, presented new findings like the monogram of Hephaestion , and the monogram “ANT” confirming my discovery of Hephaestion tomb. However in the “Amphipolis a hero shrine to Hephaestion”( THETOC Oct. 1, 2015) we see that Katerina peristeri believes that Alexander himself ordered his architect for building as soon as possible not a monument but a hero shrine dedicated to his friend Hephaestion. This photo is from the interview I gave to the author of Spiritual Thessaly, Dimitra Bardani, in Thessalia TV (Greece) about the criticism of Hephaestion tomb. In fact, according to the history of Greek people (volume Δ page 208) after the death of Hephaestion (324 BC) Alexander the Great ordered his general Perdiccas for burning the body of Hephaestion in Babylon in a monument, called “Pyre”, and after six months, when messengers brought the oracle of Amun that Hephaestion should be worshiped as a divine hero, Alexander ordered his architect Dinocrates not for building a hero shrine dedicated to Hephaestion but for planning an expensive monument for the Hero Hephaestion, having a base at the very great size of one stadium = 157.5 m. Moreover on the same page we read that Alexander ordered also Cleomenes (the ruler of Egypt) to build two hero shrines dedicated to Hephaestion, ( one in Alexandria and one in the island Pharos). However on page 245 we read that after the death of Alexander the planning of monument was canceled by Perdiccas . See also the paper of the professor of university of Athens (archeology) Olga Palagia: “Hephaestion’s Pyre and the Royal Hunt of Alexander”. In this paper we read: “ The actual pyre where the body was burnt should not be confused with the project for Hephaestion’s tomb misleadingly called pyre by Diodorus, which was found among Alexander’s last plans and quashed by Perdiccas and the army.” Moreover in “Hephaestion- WIKIPEDIA” one reads: "It is possible that the pyre was not burnt, but that it was actually intended as a tomb or lasting memorial; if so, it is likely that it was never completed, as there are references to expensive, uncompleted projects at the time of Alexander's own death." Today in the museum of Thessaloniki there is a votive relief of the HERO HEPHAESTION with a Greek inscription ΔΙΟΓΕΝΗΣ ΗΦΑΙΣΤΙΟΝΙ ΗΡΩΙ ( Diogenes to Hephaestion Hero) and in Amphipolis I discovered that the cone pyramid has a diameter (d) equal to one Hellenistic stadium (d = 157.5 m). Therefore my discovery of Hephaestion monument is not a hero shrine dedicated to Hephaestion but a very great MATHEMATICAL MONUMENT OF HEPHAESTION. In the same THETOC Peristeri also said: “It is one of a number of heroon structures, or ancient hero worship shrines, dedicated to Hephaestion by Alexander. “I don't know if he is buried inside.” However according to the history of Greek people Alexander the Great ordered not to Denocrates but to Cleomenes for building only two hero shrines in Egypt. On the other hand since Alexander ordered his general Perdiccas for burning the body of Hephaestion , in the “Five Dead Inside Amphipolis Tomb” ( Greek Reporters, January 19, 2015) one reads: “It is certain, however, that the cremated person was the first tenant of the tomb since ancient Greeks had stopped burning their dead after the 3rd -2nd century B.C.” However on March 1, 2015 Katerina Peristeri did not follow the official announcement of Jan. 19, 2015 and has finally spoken after months of silence, giving a new twist to the case that piqued the international community’s interest. In “Amphipolis Tomb Archaeologist ‘Doesn’t Care About the Skeletons” we read: “We need to focus on the monument, not the bones, which for me are not that important. You cannot receive accurate dating from a skeleton. For me the skeletons are meaningless. They are misleading our research.” Regarding the skeletons that were found, the Greek archaeologist notes that several hypothesis have been made. “The skeleton may be sacrificial remnants, or even looters." Here one sees that Peristeri contradicts the original official announcement of Minstry of Culture ( January 19, 2015), because she believes that the bones may be sacrificial remnants. However according to the History of Greek People a human sacrifice happened only at the time of Homer’s Iliad. In the “Human sacrifice –WIKIPEDIA” one also reads: “The human sacrifice in mythology, the deus ex machina salvation in some versions of Iphigeneia (who was about to be sacrificed by her father Agamemnon) and her replacement with a deer by the goddess Artemis, may be a vestigial memory of the abandonment and discrediting of the practice of human sacrifice among the Greeks in favour of animal sacrifice.” In THETOC we also read: “Another key monogram inscription bears the letters “ANT”, and Peristeri's team links this to the Macedonian general Antigonus Monopthalmus, who replaced Hephaestion after his death.” However according to the history of Greek People after the death of Αlexander (323 BC) the plan of the expensive monument was cancelled by Perdiccas and after the death of Perdiccas ( 321 BC) Antipater of Macedonia in Syria appointed himself supreme regent of all Alexander’s empire. Antipater returned to Macedonia in 320 BC ( page 253 ), where the Greek archaeologist Peristeri (2012) discovered the Amphipolis cone pyramid. The team found not only the monogram “ ANT” but also three inscriptions with the word "parelavon" – which translates as received – along with the monogram of Hephaestion. Therefore according to the history of Greek people the monogram “ANT” belongs not to Antigonus Monophthalmus but to the Antipater who received the reliquary of bones for cult of divine hero Hephaestion for the construction of the Hephaestion mathematical tomb. In “Antipater-WIKIPEDIA” we read: “In the treaty of Triparadisus (321 BC) Antipater participated in a new division of Alexander's great kingdom. He appointed himself supreme regent of all Alexander's empire and was left in control of Greece as guardian of Alexander's son Alexander IV and his disabled brother Philip III. Having quelled a mutiny of his troops and commissioned Antigonus to continue the war against Eumenes and the other partisans of Perdiccas, Antipater returned to Macedonia, arriving there in 320 BC.” Whereas , according to the historical sources Antigonous Monophthalmus never has been a governor of Macedonia. In “Antigonus Monophthalmus-WIKIPEDIA” one reads: “After the war had been carried on with varying success from 315 to 311, peace was concluded, by which the government of Asia Minor and Syria was provisionally secured to Antigonus.” Surprisingly using the historical sources and applying a combinatory method related to ancient astronomy I discovered that the Amphipolis cone pyramid has a diameter equal to the one Alexandrian stadium = 157.5 m. So confirming the historical sources one should conclude that in 320 BC Antipater received officially the reliquary of bones for cult of the divine hero Hephaestion. Then he commissioned the architect Dinocrates for constructing the mathematical tomb of Hephaestion, because the tomb includes also the same astronomical numbers 7, 12 and 3 as those used by Dinocrates for the foundation of the ancient Alexandria in Egypt (331 BC). According to the excavation results ( November 29, 2014) coins of the third century AD were found in the Hephaestion tomb, which mean that the tomb was open for cult of Hephaestion and of Alexander the Great. This very important discovery confirms the writings of the History of Greek People ( Volume ΣΤ, page 200 ) according to which during the third century AD the worship of Alexander the Great was revived in Macedonia. In other words during the third century AD Roman emperors loved the Greek culture. So under the anti-Christian policies Christians were unable to destroy the Hephaestion tomb with any mortal remains for cult. Nevertheless the archeologist Peristeri on November 29, 2014 announced that the tomb was destroyed by Romans during the third century AD. Note that according to the History of Greek People (Volume Z ) fanatic Christians destroyed temples and monuments of the Greek culture under the anti-paganism policies of emperors Constantine I and Constantius II. ( 330-361 AD). However during the era of the emperor Julian (361-363) Macedonians were able to protect the monument with the destroyed statues and the scattered bones of cult from any future vandalism. It is of interest to note that after the Christian vandalisms the grave of hero Hephaestion became an ossuary with bones for cult. On January 19, 2015 Greece’s Ministry of Culture announced that in the Amphipolis cone pyramid was found a limestone with 550 bones belonging not only to a dead person who was cremated at a time prior to the death of other 4 dead persons but also animal bones (not complete skeletons). This discovery of a limestone containing not only hundreds of human bones but also animal bones has remained a mystery. Perhaps horsemen as the defenders of the monument of Hero Hephaestion were killed under the anti-paganism policies. (330-361 AD). The DNA and the dating of bones through accelerator mass spectrometry that will follow could determine if the bones for cult belong to rulers of early periods or were gathered from cemeteries or other places after religious controversies between the defenders of the tomb and the fanatic Christians. (See my “CRITICISM OF BONE RESULTS IN AMPHIPOLIS”). Note that it is more difficult to determine the identity of the burned remains of the probable “tenant” to confirm the historical sources about the “Pyre” of Hephaestion. (324 BC). It is of interest to notice that according to the British author Chugg the few fragments found of an adult cremation could in fact be the original occupant. Comparing the scattered bones for cult of possible martyrs of the tomb or rulers of earlier times in Amphipolis with those from other graves will help the research team draw conclusions about who they were, how they lived, and ultimately, how they died. In other words the Hephaestion tomb was not a family tomb, because the discovered limestone has not buried complete skeletons of possible buried persons but bones for cult. For example the officials said that around 550 bone fragments had been discovered. After a meticulous process of piecing the fragments together, scientists identified 157 complete bones. Following the macroscopic study of bone material, which was undertaken by a multidisciplinary team from the Universities of Aristotle and Democritus, researchers were able to determine that the minimum number of individuals is five. Thus the rest fragments of bones should belong to extra persons along with the dead animals. On the other hand after the discovery of monograms the Greek archaeologist, who was not involved in the excavation, rejected Peristeri’s identification as "totally unfounded." Panayiotis Faklaris, associate professor at the University of Thessaloniki, told the Associated Press the tomb more likely belonged to some prominent ancient citizen of Amphipolis. "There is no historic or scientific basis" for what Peristeri claimed, he said. "Hephaestion had no connection with Amphipolis." On this point I emphasize that according to the history of Greek people (Volume Δ page 208) Alexander the Great commissioned his architect Dinocrates for planning the expensive monument for the divine hero Hephaestion, having a base at the very great size of one stadium = 157.5 m. Indeed, today in the museum of Thessaloniki there is a votive relief of the HERO HEPHAESTION with a Greek inscription ΔΙΟΓΕΝΗΣ ΗΦΑΙΣΤΙΟΝΙ ΗΡΩΙ ( Diogenes to Hephaestion Hero) . Also in Amphipolis the diameter (d) of the Hephaestion cone pyramid is just equal to the one Hellenistic stadium ( d = 157.5 m). Moreover in «Φάκλαρης THE TOC» (Oct. 2, 2015) Faklaris said that Hephaestion was buried in Babylon . However in “'Cypriot professor: Alexander the Great's childhood friend is buried in Amphipolis” ' we read “He died in 324 BC in Midea. No ancient writer says that Hephaestion was buried in Babylon.” Moreover in “Hephaestion-WIKIPEDIA” one reads: “It is possible that the pyre was not burnt, but that it was actually intended as a tomb or lasting memorial; if so, it is likely that it was never completed, as there are references to expensive, uncompleted projects at the time of Alexander's own death.” In the same THE TOC Faklaris also said that Hephaestion could not be buried in Amphipolis because that time Amphipolis was not in Macedonia but in the one of the colonies of Athens. However according to the history of Greek people Philip II of Macedonia occupied Amphipolis in 357 BC, and it remained under Macedonian control until 168 BC, when Rome made it a free city and also the headquarters of the Roman governor of Macedonia. In “Amphipolis – WIKIPEDIA” we read: “In 357 BC, Philip succeeded where the Athenians had failed and conquered the city, thereby removing the obstacle which Amphipolis presented to Macedonian control over Thrace.” On the other hand in “Greek Archaeologist: Amphipolis Tomb Not Constructed For Alexander The Great’s Pal” we read that Faklaris, also, questioned the claims of architect Michael Lefantzis on the Lion of Amphipolis, stressing out that the monument should not in any way be related with the Kasta Hill, taking into account that “it was found around 2 kilometers away.” On this point I emphasize that according to the excavation history in the period 1971-1984 the archaeologist Dimitris Lazaridis discovered on the top of the Kasta Tomb Hill a strange construction having a shape of a parallelepiped with a base A = 9.95X 9.95 = 99 m2 and a height of 5.2 m. That is, he discovered a building having a volume V = 9.95X9.95X5.2 = 514.8 m3. Since the mean density of a marble is about 2.5 tons per cubic meter one can estimate that the building was heavy of weight W = 514.8X2.5 = 1,287 tons. Such a heavy parallelepiped without any inscription of course led to a serious puzzle about its purpose. Fortunately lead archeologist of Amphipolis Katerina Peristeri should be very happy because in 2012 she found parts of marble and solved the problem by concluding that the strange parallelepiped was the foundation base of the lion statue, which has been originally placed on the top of the cone pyramid. Note that the lion with the two bases has a hight equal to 1/12 stades, while the cone pyramid has a height 1/7 stades. Thus the total height is 1/7 + 1/12 = (7+12) / (7X12) . The same astronomical numbers have also the walls of ancient Alexandria in which the perimeter P = 7X12 = 84 stades. However during Christian vandalisms ( 330-361 AD) the lion with its base was destroyed and pieces of lion were moved from the top of the cone pyramid to the river Strymonas. (See my “CORRECT AMPHIPOLIS LION”). Category:Fundamental physics concepts